1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a steering lock device used for a vehicle car in which a steering shaft of a vehicle steering handle is non-rotatably locked upon operation of an engine ignition key.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The steering lock device of the aforementioned type is adapted such that the steering shaft is kept unlocked, unless the key is withdrawn. The shaft remains unlocked even if a driver should erroneously or accidentally rotate a rotor of the cylinder lock device to a locking position during running of a car. This ensures safety during operation of the vehicle.
Heretofore, a steering lock device used for a vehicle having such a system has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Utility Model Laid Open Sho 63(1988)-74360 and it has the following constitution. That is, in order to hold a lock pin at an unlock position until withdrawal of a key, an engaging lever is movably disposed in a cylinder body that contains a rotor of a cylinder lock. The forward end of the lever is engaged with a slide member which is disposed slidably in the rotor of the cylinder lock for detecting the insertion of the key and radially and outwardly displacing to the rotor. The rear end of the lever is detachably engaged to another slider which is connected to a lock pin and slides in accordance with the rotation of the rotor. When the key is inserted into the rotor of the cylinder lock device, the top end of the engaging lever is raised by the slide member. The rear end of the engaging lever engages the slider to hold the lock pin at an unlock position. On the other hand, when the key is withdrawn from the rotor, the top end of the engaging lever retracts together with the slide member into the rotor. The rear end of the engaging lever detaches from the slider, thereby causing the lock pin to protrude out of the cylinder body under the force of a spring to lock the steering shaft in a non-rotatable position.
However, in the prior art system as described above, since the engaging lever is disposed on the cylinder body, there has been a problem that diametrical size of the cylinder body increases, thereby requiring an increased number of parts for mounting the engaging lever.